the state’s executive branch ethics act … says that “each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust.”

and Palin’s attorney, Thomas Van Flein says:

Van Flein says Branchflower’s finding that Palin violated the ethics act is flawed because she received no monetary benefit from whatever actions she and her husband are accused of. He cited several prior ethics investigations.

“The common thread of all of these Ethics Act cases is money and the use of a government position to personally gain,” Van Flein’s statement says.

“Here, there is no accusation, no finding and no facts that money or financial gain to the Governor was involved in the decision to remove Monegan,” the governor’s attorney says. “There can be no ethics violations under these circumstances.”

This is one of the things that concerns me. The selection of Sarah Palin as the veep candidate is an example of McCain’s impulsive decision-making, his apparent failure to perform an adequate investigation and/or an unholy confidence in his ability to spin unethical behavior to the American people.

I think that we need ethical leaders who make careful decisions if we expect to end the wars, secure our borders and manage our economy. The selection of Sarah Palin as the veep candidate, in my opinion, is another reason, in a long line of reasons, about why John McCain is unfit for the presidency of the United States.